Free plan · Windows & Mac

A free PDF app for the documents you actually have.

Fill in the form, add your signature, comment on the draft, compare a page with the last version, print it. No account to view, and no files sent anywhere.

Download free Get a sample form to try

Windows & Mac · No credit card · Your files stay on your computer

Redpen with Sample-Letter.pdf open: a three-page letter on 8.5 x 11 in paper, with the properties panel beside it
Sample-Letter.pdf · an ordinary letter, open in Redpen

The sample form is a fictional one-page application with text boxes, tick boxes, a drop-down and a signature line. Fill and sign it, step by step

F-01What it doesAll Free

Six jobs an ordinary document needs.

Nothing here sits behind a trial. It stays free.

  1. Fill in a form

    Type into the fields of any PDF form and save it. The answers stay in the file for whoever opens it next.

  2. Sign it

    Place a drawn or typed signature, a picture of your signature on the page. To send a document out for signature, DocuSign works through your own DocuSign account.

  3. Read it

    Open any PDF, any size, from folders, recent files and synced cloud folders on your own disk. Find text with whole-word and pattern search, also across a folder of PDFs, and read in split view with rulers and a grid when you need them.

  4. Comment on it

    Highlight, underline and strike out text, add notes, stamps, hyperlinks and file attachments. The markups list shows status and author, filters and groups, and exports to Excel or CSV with your own columns.

  5. Compare a page

    Compare a page with an older version: the changes are clouded on their own layer, stepped through one by one and listed to CSV.

  6. Tidy it and send it

    Insert, delete, extract, rotate, reorder, crop, combine and split pages. Watermark and password protect. Print, print an area, save, email, or reduce the file for email.

F-02Every Free toolFrom the plan list

The full list, nothing held back.

Every row below is in the Free plan. Snapping, the command bar and workspaces are open on every plan.

A-01

Everyday PDFs

  • Open any PDF, any size · Folders, recent files and synced cloud folders, opened from your own disk
  • Views, zoom, split view, rulers and grid
  • Find text, with whole-word and pattern search · Also searches a folder of PDFs
  • Fill in forms
  • Drawn or typed signature · A picture of your signature placed on the page
  • Send for signature with DocuSign · Uses your own DocuSign account
  • New PDF from blank pages or pictures
  • Print, print an area, save, email and reduce for email
A-02

Markup and review

  • Clouds, callouts, arrows, text boxes and shapes
  • Highlight, underline and strike out text
  • Notes, stamps, hyperlinks, file attachments and snapshots
  • Markups list with status, author, filters and grouping
  • Markups list to Excel or CSV, with your own columns
  • Format painter, group, align and distribute
  • Flatten and unflatten markups
  • Compare a page with an older version · Changes clouded on their own layer, stepped through and listed to CSV
S-02

Measurement

  • Snapping to ends, midpoints, centres, intersections and more · Works on every markup, and earns its keep when measuring
D-01

Documents

  • Organise pages · Insert, delete, extract, rotate, reorder, crop, combine and split
  • Watermark and password protect
W-01

Workflow

  • Command bar · Ctrl+K or / finds any command
  • Tool Chest of reusable tools · Folders, and imports .btx tool sets
  • Workspaces for different kinds of work · Save your own
  • Rebind any shortcut
  • Ribbon, classic or compact toolbar
  • Recovery copy after a crash
  • Works offline · A paid plan checks in at least every 14 days
F-03When work needs more

What Office and Pro add.

If you never need these, you never pay. The free plan doesn't shrink after a trial.

Every new account can try Office or Pro free for 14 days, no card. Compare plans

Download freeTry Pro free for 14 days

Office

$79 a year per seat
  • Edit text, whiteout, headers and footers
  • OCR: make scans searchable, offline
  • Make PDFs fillable
  • Redact by drawing boxes
  • Remove hidden information and check before sending
  • Sign with a digital ID
  • Quote check, AP stamps and audit tick marks

Pro, and Team on every seat

$199 a year
  • Scale · Calibrate, or let Autoscale read the dimensions printed on the sheet.
  • Measurement · Every measure tool, in real units, with snapping.
  • Counts and takeoff · Count by hand or with AutoCount, total by item, export the quantities.
  • Drawing sets and revisions · Compare a revised set, overlay sheets, slip sheets in, link sheet references.
  • Redact by search and pattern, with a redaction log
  • Bates numbering and production index

Who uses the free app

Students & teachersOffice & small businessHome & personalConstruction & tradesLegalArchitecture & engineeringGovernment & inspectionReal estate & propertyManufacturing & fabrication
F-04Questions

About the free app.

Is it really free?
Yes. The Free plan has no time limit, needs no credit card, and needs no account to view. It covers opening, reading, marking up, commenting, filling in forms, signing with a drawn or typed signature, comparing a page with an older version, organising pages, printing and saving.
What kind of signature is free?
A drawn or typed signature: a picture of your signature placed on the page. If you need a record of who signed and whether the file changed afterwards, signing with a digital ID is in Office and up.
How can it be free?
People who need the professional tools (measuring, redaction, OCR, digital-ID signing) pay for Office, Pro or Team. That pays for the free app, so everyone else can use it for nothing.
Does it work on Mac?
Yes. Redpen is a native desktop app for Windows 10 and 11 and for macOS 12 or later.
Are my files uploaded?
No. Redpen is a desktop app. It opens and saves PDFs on your computer and no AI feature reads them.
Will my markups show up for other people?
Redpen saves markups as standard PDF annotations, so the file opens in other PDF viewers too.
What if I need more later?
Create an account and you get 14 days of Office or Pro, whichever you pick. No credit card. Add a card any time before the trial ends to keep it; if you don't, you drop to the Free plan and keep your files and markups.

Your PDFs deserve a better home.

Download Redpen and open your first PDF in a minute. The free app needs no account. Every new account can try Office or Pro free for 14 days, no card.

Download free Try Pro free for 14 days

Windows & Mac · No credit card · Your files stay on your computer